My Quilting Tattoo

A few days ago, I did something I've wanted to do for a long time! Here's a sneak peek before I share the whole story 😊

Eleven years ago, Paul and I got matching tattoos to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Up until deciding to do that, rather spur of the moment, I had never even considered getting a tattoo. When we went in, the tattoo artist asked which of us was going first and I said I would, because I was worried that if it looked like it hurt a lot I would chicken out! 

Sometime after that, maybe a year or two later, I started thinking I'd like to have a quilting tattoo. For a while it was just a vague, maybe someday kind of thought. Then I started feeling more and more like I wanted to make it happen. Problem was, I couldn't decide what I wanted! There are so many great sewing tattoos out there! Vintage sewing machines, quilt blocks, thread spools, needle and thread, scissors... On and on the choices go, and I couldn't settle on anything. I love the idea of a vintage sewing machine, but I don't sew on one, and, while I love my Janome 6700, it's not really tattoo material. I spent years collecting ideas on Pinterest, but that was as far as it went.

My other hold-up was I didn't know who to have do it. The guy who did our tattoos in 2014 had moved away, so I couldn't go back to him. Then a friend had a full sleeve of tattoos done and the work was gorgeous, so I asked her for the recommendation.

Back in June I took the plunge and reached out to her tattoo artist, Lawrence, and booked an appointment for September 30. When he asked what I wanted, I sent him a whole Drive folder full of inspiration and ideas, hoping he could turn it into something coherent. The only things I knew for sure were that it would be on my right forearm and I wanted a line of hexies that wrapped around my arm. I loved the shape of this vine tattoo, so I sent that along with a picture of some hexies lined up on a table.

Beyond that, I told him 'maybe include a needle and thread, or a spool of thread, or a hexie flower' with pictures of all the options so he would know what I meant. He said we'd meet before my appointment to go over what I wanted, and then I settled in to wait for the end of September.

The week before my appointment, I emailed him to check in, and he said, "I just finished reviewing your ideas..all good….we don’t need to meet for this…I’ll have this stuff put together for ya for Tuesday." What??? I wanted to see what he was making out of the mess of ideas I had sent, lol. Waiting those last couple of days was tough!

When I arrived on Tuesday, he had a bunch of drawings printed out and we sat down to build the plan. He had a couple of options for the line of hexies, bigger and smaller, connected or not. I chose the smaller hexies and connected, so it looked like they were sewn together. Once I could see how much space the hexies would take up on my arm, I opted to skip the spool of thread and the hexie flower, going with just a needle and thread.

He started with the line of hexies, wrapping them from just above my wrist to my elbow. Tattoos are done with a transfer of some sort that puts the lines on the skin so the tattoo artist can follow the lines with the ink. This picture shows the transfer, before he went over it with the ink.

Once the hexies were outlined, he added the transfer for the needle where we wanted it, then picked up a Sharpie and literally drew the path of the thread freehand. No wonder we didn't need to meet ahead of time! He wasn't satisfied with the first couple of tries, so he erased those with rubbing alcohol and tried again until he was satisfied. Once he was happy with how it covered the space around the hexies he sent me to look in a mirror to be sure I was happy with it, then inked it all. I asked if the thread could be blue (of course!), but he recommended sticking with black because the colour inks are a thicker consistency and aren't as good for thin lines. In this picture, the hexies are outlined, the needle is partially done, and you can see the Sharpie line for the thread.

Once the needle and thread were done, it was time to add the colour! I chose pink, purples, blues, and teal. He suggested having another warm colour, so we added yellow. It was so much fun to watch the hexies come to life as he worked his way up my arm! Filling in shapes is more painful than outlining is, though, so by the time he was getting to the end of the line I was definitely ready to be done.

The last thing he did was add a tiny bit of white to give the needle some shine, which I hadn't even considered, but is a great little detail.

When he was done and I could go to the mirror again, I couldn't stop twisting my arm around and grinning! I am thrilled with how it turned out!

The next afternoon I set up my phone and took a little video to show it off. You can see the video on Instagram. These pictures are taken from the video because I completely forgot to take pictures like this, so they're not the clearest, but they give you an idea how it looks when you're seeing all of me, not just closeups.

I did take closeup pictures after recording the video. The hexies look kind of textured, but that's just because it was fresh and the skin needs to heal. They'll look smooth once the healing is done. That can take weeks, though, and I'm too excited to wait that long to share it.

Seeing it makes me ridiculously happy. As a friend pointed out, that's a good thing, considering I'll be looking at it for a very long time 😆 

Someone else pointed out that a lot of people probably won't understand what it is, which is true, especially if they don't notice the needle. It's not the most obvious quilting reference, but I think quilters will recognize it, even if they've never done EPP themselves. Whether they do or not, I know what it is.

As we were driving home on Tuesday, Paul asked if I'd go back to Lawrence again. 

I said, "Yes, absolutely." 

"Are you planning to get more?" he asked. I just laughed. I have no plans for more tattoos, but I have heard they're addictive, so who knows? Haha!

Do you have a quilting tattoo? Or would you consider getting one?

8 Point Meadow in Make Modern

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking a link. This does not affect the price you pay.

It has been a while since I had a quilt published in Make Modern magazine (I think the last one was Illusion, back in January of 2023), so I'm excited to say I have a baby quilt in the brand new issue that was just published. Meet 8 Point Meadow!

Okay, as far as quilt names go, that's not one of the greats 😆 Why is naming quilts so hard?? I came up with 8 Point Meadow because the star block is called 8 Point Star in EQ8 and, with the green background, the pink, purple, orange, and yellow stars reminded me of wildflowers.

I think this was the first time I made a quilt with the blocks on point. I love how it changes the whole look of the block. Here's the block set normally; it looks straighter and less interesting, somehow. 

But tip it 45° and it looks more dynamic. 

The star points are paper pieced. I know it's possible to piece that unit traditionally, but I really like the simplicity and accuracy of paper piecing it. Of course, I used freezer paper for the paper piecing, so I didn't have to remove the paper from the blocks when they were finished (it's the only way I paper piece!). You can learn this magic, too!

I don't have a lot of pink, purple, yellow, or orange fabrics in my stash, but I was able to pull enough for this baby quilt without repeating any.

For the quilting, I chose not to quilt the star points at all. They're outlined and the whole background is quilted with a dense, loopy meander, which really makes the stars pop. They show up beautifully on the back, too.

The loopy meander quilting always makes me think of eyelet lace for some reason. It gives the quilt fantastic texture, too.

I wanted the stars to be the sole focus, so I used the same green for the binding and the background. Now that I think about it, I could also have done a facing to achieve the same effect, but I never think of that. Binding is just automatic.

For the pattern for 8 Point Meadow, along with 9 other projects and some great columns, get your copy of Make Modern issue 66. Or subscribe to get 6 issues a year, all of them full of inspiration and eye candy 😊 Make Modern is celebrating their 11th birthday, so subscribers get a fun bonus pattern, too!

Showstoppers Quilt

I love getting to share a new scrappy pattern with the Stash Artists members every other month! For the September pattern, I designed a fat quarter-friendly pattern called Showstoppers.

There are so many things I love about this quilt! First, the big, bold flower blocks. They make me think of the biggest, showiest flowers in the garden, which is how the quilt got its name.

Then there's the shape of the negative space around the flowers. I love the curvy diamond shape on each side, but more than that, I love the way the four curvy diamonds around a flower seem to create the illusion of a larger black shape behind the flower. Can you see that?

And then there's the partial flower blocks that create the border around the full blocks. They give the quilt a more interesting look than if the quilt were entirely made of full flower blocks. I made the baby quilt, and the pattern includes instructions for throw and queen size, both of which also have the partial blocks on the edges.

If you're not comfortable sewing curved seams yet, I have a tutorial for how to sew Drunkard's Path blocks. I promise they're not as scary as they look!

That being said, something was going crazy in the sewing room when I sewed mine because every single one turned out wonky. Every. Single. One. There was no way I was redoing them, so I eased in fulness as needed and there were a few ¼" seams that weren't as precise as usual as I assembled the blocks. The blocks turned out surprisingly well, though, and then I didn't need to fudge things much to put the quilt top together. I've always said I could never be a carpenter because there's no 'easing in' when you're working with wood. Fabric, on the other hand, is quite forgiving! And remember, finished is better than perfect 😊

The folks at The Warm Company sent me a shipment of Warm and Natural batting recently (it's my favourite!), and this was the first quilt made with the new batting. Yes, I still have an abundance of batting scraps, but they're all pretty small now and I was getting tired of piecing multiple scraps together for everything. I have a plan for a series (or two!) of mini quilts next year, though, and those scraps will be perfect for that.

I wanted to use black solid for the back of the quilt, but didn't have enough. I did have enough navy, though, and that was neutral enough for me. Especially on a scrap quilt, I don't feel like the back has to be a perfect match. 

As a bonus, the navy does a nice job of showing off the purple quilting thread! With so many colours on the front, ranging from black to almost-white, it was hard to choose a thread colour for the quilting. Black was out, because it would be too dark on the light fabrics. White, beige, and light grey were all out because they'd be too light on the black. I tested teals, blues, pinks, medium greys, and purples (all Aurifil 50 wt), and 4225 (Eggplant) ended up being my favourite. As you've probably noticed in the pictures, the purple does show up, but there was really no way to avoid that unless I switched thread for every flower and the background, which didn't fit the all-over quilting I wanted to do.

I chose an all-over flowery meander, which makes me think of the smaller flowers in the garden. It felt like the perfect complement to the big flower blocks.

We went to the beach Friday for one last picnic supper before school started, and I wandered around taking pictures of Showstoppers while Paul barbecued. I love the light in this picture.

If you love scrappy quilts as much as I do, join the Stash Artists waiting list to be notified when the membership doors open again later in the fall. 

What colour would the background of your Showstoppers quilt be? I'd love to see it with a white background or a pale green. This is one of the many, many reasons I love quilting - there's always another option you could try, even when making the same pattern again!

My First Quilt with Becky Jorgensen

It's the last Friday of the month, so I'm here with a new My First Quilt interview! I love getting to share these stories of quilt industry folks and their first quilts! Today Becky Jorgensen is sharing the story of her first quilt(s).

Becky Jorgensen is a quilt pattern designer, author, business coach and award winning quilter. Since beginning her blog and pattern design in 2007, she has also launched Patchworkers Plus- an online quilt group connecting quilters from around the world,  and the Patchwork Planner - helping quilters track and organize their projects, calendar, classes and more. 

You can connect with Becky at her website, and learn more about Patchworkers Plus here.

And now, here's Becky's first quilt (maybe 😆)!

What year did you make your first quilt? What prompted you to make it?

Oh - I don't even remember!  I have been a sewer for quite a long time. I have a little X-stitch from when I was 8 and for a few years stitched for stitching store, Shepherd's Bush before I became interested in quilting. I even sewed up some shorts and such when I was a teenager. I believe though that my first quilt was a table topper that had alternating four patch blocks and a square. 

I am a lover of libraries so I'm fairly certain that the pattern I used was from a book that I had found there and checked out.  

I'm thinking that I just wanted something to do.  I had gotten a sewing machine from someone and needed a project so I could use it. 

Another contender for the first quilt was a baby quilt for my first daughter Jerika. It had nine patches and then pieced people in the border. I remember that not being easy! I vowed never to sew people again. lol 

I'm pretty sure that my journey and interest in quilting was pushed by having children, which is very similar to other quilters. 

Neither quilt is perfect. I look at them now - especially that table topper and think. Wow. Those four patches are not even the same size. I totally didn't care! They needed to work and so they got trimmed to make that happen. I don't mind.

The other candidate for Becky's first quilt

What techniques were used in that first quilt? Did you quilt it yourself?

They are traditionally pieced. I don't remember if I had a rotary cutter when I began. I did quilt it myself. Straight lines - nothing fancy and on my own sewing machine. No hand quilting.  

Who taught you to make the quilt?

While I was the one who followed the instructions from the pattern and did everything, my mother is a quilter and grandmother is also creative. I believe since I had experience in hand stitching from very young, I picked up the sewing machine and quilting pretty easily and quickly. 

Are the colours you chose for your first quilt ones you would still choose today?

Yes! The baby quilt - while bright in colors wasn't aghast or offensive. lol The table topper was more civil war fabrics.  Both I still enjoy.  

Did you fall in love with quilting right away? Or was there a gap between making the first quilt and the next one?

I believe that while I had breaks, I do remember that after exploring those I began attending a block of the month with my mom every month. Sewing up blocks and learning a bit more and paying attention to a few rules - like trimming up and pinning at seams to make sure they aren't off.  After that I found a quilt group to attend and began to sew even more.  

Where is the quilt now?

I have both of these quilts still! In fact, the table topper I even use. I don't mind them not being perfect. I enjoy the layout, the fabrics I chose and the end result. While they could offend a lot of quilters, I like having them around still. 

Is there anything you wish you could go back and tell yourself as you made that first quilt?

Go for it. Try it out. Cut that fabric. Sew whatever you want. If you want to use crazy fabric, use crazy fabric. While listening to others opinions is great - you still need to allow yourself to do what pleases you and makes you happy.  

Don't worry about making others happy or worrying over your points. Enjoy the process. 

And - if you don't like it.... change it! Don't finish it. Make it into something new. Figure out what you can do so you do like it. 

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

Not really about my first quilt, but just some thoughts. 

Quilters tend to be such givers. We sew for charities, babies, graduations, weddings, birthdays... any kind of celebration that could include a quilt - we sew for it. But don't forget about yourself. I love having quilts all over my home. I allow myself to keep them if I want to. Sometimes I make something extra special just for myself. 

Don't let the cost of fabric keep you from quilting.  I still shop thrift stores.  I cut up clothes and men's dress shirts and woman skirts. They have wonderful cotton and they can be used in quilts and don't break your bank. Look outside of the quilt store if those prices don't fit your budget right now. 

Also- Use Them! Wash them and get them crinkled and snuggly. Toss them on beds and chairs and couches and in your car. I don't intend for my quilts to last for 100 years. I would really rather them be used to threads, that's why I sewed it in the first place. 

I feel the same way, Becky! Quilts are meant to be used and loved! Thank you, Becky, for sharing your first quilts with us 😊

Summer Dreamin'

Welcome to TGIFF, the party where we celebrate our finishes! Around here, the quilts sometimes get finished in a timely manner, but then the blog post doesn't 😅 This week I'm finally getting around to sharing a quilt that I finished near the end of February, which means it has taken me almost 6 months to take the time to sit and give Summer Dreamin' its rightful place on the blog.

Summer Dreamin' was the Stash Artists pattern for March, so I was working on these blocks in January and February, when the world outside was snow and ice and cold. As I sewed the blocks and added them to my design wall, they felt like a little pop of summer in my sewing room. The more blocks I put up, the more summery it felt, until I knew I had to reference summer in the name somehow. Since it was the dead of winter, Summer Dreamin' felt like the perfect name. It's not often a quilt name comes to me so easily, so that was a nice change.

All the fabrics came from my stash and they're a mix of new and old, batiks and regular quilting cotton from a bunch of different companies. Most of the white pieces were cut from my white scrap box, so there are a few brands of white mixed together to make the background. Do you have your scraps organized in a way that makes it easy for you to actually use them? If not, check out my Escape Scrap Overwhelm guide!

Those scrappy blue pinwheels are probably my favourite part of the whole design. Blue and pinwheels always make me happy! 

I took a bit of a shortcut making the flying geese for the pinwheels. I've been making blue and teal flying geese as leaders and enders for the last while so I can eventually make a quilt of scrappy blue and teal Flying Together blocks. I knew I had a nice stack of them that hadn't been sewn together into blocks yet, so I raided that for this quilt, leaving me needing to piece only a handful more to have enough for all the pinwheels. Of course, that means my Flying Together quilt is pushed even farther into the future, but I'll get there someday (maybe).

Since the quilt felt so much like summer to me, I knew I wanted to quilt flowers on it. I considered the loop and flower meander I used on Ombre Twirl and New Life and this Formal Garden baby quilt, but that wasn't quite what I wanted. At some point while I was piecing and thinking, I noticed the daisy chain banner I have on two of the sewing room walls. Could I replicate that as a quilted flower? I tried drawing it on a scrap of paper and was excited that it had exactly the vibe I wanted for this quilt.

Now the only question was, could I quilt it large enough? I tend to quilt small, even when I'm trying to quilt bigger. I blame it on learning to free motion quilt on a Kenmore machine with a 5" throat space and no extension table - I didn't have room to quilt big back then! I wanted these flowers to feel big and showy, though, so I had to really focus on keeping them from getting smaller and smaller as I went. I'm happy to say I was successful at keeping them big, so that most of them finish around 4" across. That's huge by my quilting standards!

In keeping with wanting the flower to be showy and summery, I used yellow Aurifil thread (2135) for the quilting. From a distance, you can't see the colour of the thread, but as soon as you get close it becomes noticeable.

I didn't have quite enough of the sky blue for the whole back, so I added a chunk of royal blue to make it big enough. Here's a picture I took in the backyard in February. The yellow thread really shows up on the royal blue, even from a distance!

A bright pink binding felt like the perfect choice. 

I had to take the cover picture for the pattern in the snow in our backyard in February, but then Zach and I took Summer Dreamin' to the beach for these pictures in April. It wasn't exactly warm (in the one picture I took of Zach he has his coat zipped up, the hood of his hoodie pulled up, and his hands in his pockets!), but the snow and ice were gone, so this summery quilt looked right at home.

Summer Dreamin' has since found its forever home with our niece Julia, who sent me a picture this week of her cat draped over it, saying George loves it. I love when the quilts I make get used, even by the cats!

That's my (finally blogged) finish this week 😊 What have you finished that you want to share? Link it up below so we can celebrate with you.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

/>

My First Quilt with Ange Wilson

It's time for another My First Quilt interview! This month Ange Wilson of Gnome Angel shares the story of her first quilt.

In her own words, Ange is "a self-confessed fussy cutter, lover of patchwork and a proud fabric fondler. I design quilt patterns (specialising in traditional patchwork and samplers), host a podcast (Fussy Cutters Club) and run the annual 100 Days 100 Blocks event. I can talk for hours... sometimes it's even all about fabric!"

You can connect with Ange at her website, her shop, and on Instagram. 

And now, here is Ange's first quilt!

What year did you make your first quilt? What prompted you to make it?

2011. My Nana was moving into a care facility and so she gifted me her Janome sewing machine (which I still have). I don't know why she did it, but it changed my life forever. I grew up in the tropics of Australia and so quilts weren't really a "thing". However, for as long as I can remember I've been fascinated by them in American culture. I used to love seeing them in film, in books, on the internet. I was just enamoured with the idea of being able to make something and have that thing be passed down through the family. To be able to still be a part of your family for generations. It's an amazing concept to me and still gives me comfort to know that if anything were to happen to me my son would have a hug from his Mum in quilt form whenever he wanted it. 

What techniques were used in that first quilt? Did you quilt it yourself?

It was super simple squares and rectangles. Super basic. Ha! No. I'm not a quilter, I'm a patchworker. I haven't quilted any of my quilts. My bestie, Raylee of Sunflower Quilting quilts all my creations. 

Who taught you to make the quilt?

The pattern I brought had basic instructions and then I winged it. It was shocking. I used a 1/2" seam! I had no idea. I ended up making another quilt after it before someone recommended I take a beginners class at our Local Quilt Shop. It was a game changer. 

Are the colours you chose for your first quilt ones you would still choose today?

Probably... I still use a lot of blue and green, but I think I'd likely fussy cut the prints if I was to do it over and be more conscious of tonal differences in the fabrics I used.

Did you fall in love with quilting right away? Or was there a gap between making the first quilt and the next one?

I was in love before I started. After my 3rd quilt I challenged myself to make a quilt top a month for 1 year. The rest they say is history...

Where is the quilt now?

In my cupboard. My Nana passed and she wanted me to have it back, so I have it here. I'll pass it on to my kiddo when I go and pray that he finds someone he loves to pass it on to. 

Is there anything you wish you could go back and tell yourself as you made that first quilt?

Nope. I think I'd just smile knowingly and tell myself I'm about to go on an amazing adventure. 

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

My quilt photography has gotten a LOT better since I made this quilt! LOL

Thanks for sharing your first quilt with us, Ange!

Sparkler Baby Quilt in Modern Vintage: Treasured

I'm part of a FB group for quilt pattern designers, where invitations are sometimes posted asking if anyone wants to take part in a blog hop sharing projects with a new fabric line. When Rachel Rossi posted her invitation for the Modern Vintage: Treasured blog hop, I quickly jumped on board. This beautiful collection blends nostalgic charm with a fresh, modern palette and I knew these fabrics would be perfect for a new Sparkler baby quilt!

I love how the quilt top turned out! Yes, it's only a top at this point. It's way too hot in my sewing room lately to be quilting anything, plus my parents and Aiden are visiting, so we've been busy hiking, searching for sea glass, and watching for whales (they've all been hiding, though).

For all my other Sparkler quilts, the sashing has been a neutral colour, but this time I decided to use the gorgeous Etched Glass print in dark teal. The Etched Glass is my favourite print in Modern Vintage: Treasured, so I used it in the sashing and for two of the blocks, in Earth and Terracotta.

The Treasured Poppies print is beautiful in both Natural and Turquoise, but it's definitely a larger scale print than I normally use. I'm a blenders and basics kind of girl. I love looking at these larger prints, though, so it's fun to incorporate them into a quilt sometimes!

I used the Loopy Lace print in Natural for the secondary sparklers, the ones that kind of recede into the background when you look at the quilt as a whole. It's a great basic print! There's a bit of pattern and colour, but it's all low-volume and perfect for playing a supporting role in the quilt.

I'm looking forward to getting this one quilted, whenever it cools down in the sewing room. I always used to say we didn't need air conditioning in Newfoundland, except for maybe 2 or 3 days a year, but that has been changing in recent years. Now we seem to have more and more hot days each summer, which is a struggle for this girl who does not enjoy the heat.

I also find it seems to get windier every year, which can make it hard to get quilt pictures, especially when it's only a quilt top. Without the added weight of the batting and backing, a flimsy quilt top billows and blows in even the slightest breeze. Paul came to my rescue this time and made a form to hold the quilt top. He taped together panels from a dishwasher box to make it large enough for the quilt, then added a handle to make it easier to hold. I pinned the quilt top to the cardboard and we headed out to a local trail. Even though it was quite windy, this worked like a charm! It might not be pretty, but it works 😊

If you'd like to make your own Sparkler quilt, the pattern is available in my shop.

That's what I made with Rachel's beautiful fabric, and all of the designers in this hop have made something unique using Modern Vintage: Treasured—from quilts and bags to garments and home decor. Follow along to see all the inspiring ideas AND to win some excellent prizes!

Meet the Designers & Their Projects

Devoted Quilter – Sparkler Baby Quilt (you are here!)

Ember Craft Company – Girl’s Dress

Snapdragon Quilting – Louise Quilt

Around the Bobbin – Essential Tote Bag

@dragonflysquiltingdesginstudio – Pillow Featuring a Panel + Modern Vintage: Treasured

Katie Mae Quilts – Baby Quilt

Quilty Zest – Placemats

Rachel Rossi – This link goes to a blog post with ALL the projects!

 

Find this fabric collection in a store near you: Modern Vintage: Treasured Store Locator

Cross-Stitch Heart

Welcome to another TGIFF party! It's time to celebrate our finishes and this time I have a finish that has been waiting a long time for its turn to come. The actual making didn't take long, but I've been thinking about making this new version of Cross-Stitch Heart for years.

I first made Cross-Stitch Heart for Make Modern magazine back in 2018. When I designed it, I was on a bit of an asymmetry kick, so this is how that original version looked. I gave this quilt to my Nanny for her 80th birthday, and it came back to me this spring after she passed away.

Almost immediately after making that version for Make Modern, I wanted to make another version using a different fabric for each block to emphasize the X shape that gives the quilt its name. Using different pinks makes it look so much more like a heart made of cross stitches.

Then, about a year ago, I decided that when the time came to make a new version, I wanted the heart centered and more prominent. And then a few months ago I realized that a scrappy version would fit perfectly as a Stash Artists pattern, so it made its way into the line of quilts to be made. Now it has finally been made!

In this version, the blocks are bigger, the heart is centered, and the quilt is a 72" square. I enjoyed going through my stash of pink fabrics to select the ones that would become part of the heart. 

I pieced together many pieces of my scraps of Warm and Natural for the batting, using fusible batting tape for the joins for the first time. While the batting tape was easier than zig zag stitching, it was also more expensive, so I'll probably stick with stitching the pieces together in the future.

As you've probably noticed in the pictures already, I quilted it with a loop and heart meander, which is the same motif I used for the first Cross-Stitch Heart quilt. I love having that extra layer of echo between the two quilts. I debated between a teal thread that almost matched the background or a pale pink that would stand out more (both were Aurifil 50 wt). I asked for votes on social media, where the results were as split as my own thoughts. I was going to play it safe with the teal, but at the last moment I switched to the pink. It stands out a bit and I love it!

The back is a solid bright pink, so the pale pink thread stands out on that side, too.

I went with a scrappy pink binding to finish it off.

Cross-Stitch Heart is the new Stash Artists pattern for July, so members can login to their account to access the pattern. If you love stash-friendly and scrappy patterns, too, get on the waitlist to be notified when the Stash Artists doors are open again.

That's my most recent finish, what is yours? Link it up below and be sure to visit some of the other links to celebrate their finishes, too.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter